November 2017

Another month... wait... FINALLY A BREAK!!! After a grueling span of break-less schooling since July 12th, we finally were rewarded with several days off for Thanksgiving break. For those who are interested in the program, let me tell ya, you’re going to need this break. Not necessarily because you’re sick of school and just don’t want to do it anymore, but because you’re going to be mentally exhausted— and that’s a good thing if you ask me. I personally took advantage of our days off to drive up to Chicago (that’s correct, DRIVE for ~14 hours each way) to spend the holiday with a couple friends from college, as well as my brother and my newborn nephew. The food was great, the company was better, but the weather left something to be desired... actually, no it didn’t; after 4 years in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, I forgot how much I didn’t miss the frigid North’s winters. Anyways, a relaxing break was just what the doctor ordered and now it’s time to finish the semester strong. 

As for academia in the month of November, this was our Endocrine/Reproductive block, which I found to be pretty cool stuff. From contraception to thyroidisms, we learned a litany of new drugs to our knowledge bank. I can’t lie, the volume of drug names is a little bit daunting when you look at a list of what we’ve done so far, but breaking it up by block has certainly made it more manageable and will make studying for the NMBE in March a less daunting task. Anyways, with the end of Endo/Repro also came the end of both Med Pharm and MC, which leaves just one more exam consisting of only principles left for the semester. I’m excited to see what the brain has in store for us and to see how much I can stuff into my own. 

November also saw my 30 volunteering hours come to completion, as I finished off my hours with a cherry on top at an awesome event called Uncork the Cure, which was a charity event benefitting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The food and champagne was awesome, but it was really cool to see so many classmates from the program volunteering at the same event; I think that is a testament to how much we’ve come together as a group over this first semester. 

Until December, happy studies everyone. 

-Steven

November Volunteer Hours: 4
Total Volunteer Hours: 32

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